[SOLVED] - Synaptic UI.

[kdemeoz]

I've used Synaptic as my preferred package manager in each Linux distro i've tried/used. Before upgrading to Maui i used Mint 17.3 KDE4, & this is a pic of part of its UI:
   

In comparison, here's part of my current Maui Synaptic UI:
   

For my tastes [& eyes] the first pic is vastly more user-friendly than the second. I really struggle to clearly, easily & quickly discern in Maui's Synaptic what packages are marked selected. The tiny almost invisible pale blue ticks are nearly impossible to discern.

Is this a Maui issue? Is it [as i more suspect] a broader Plasma5 issue? Is there any way i can adjust some settings to more closely resemble the old Mint / KDE4 aesthetic style? [I have extensively played around with Maui's System Settings - Workspace Appearance in the past, & made lots of other aesthetic personalisations, but so far nothing i've tried seems to alter the Synaptic UI].

Thanks.

[fanisatt]

"The tiny almost invisible pale blue ticks are nearly impossible to discern." : Oh Yessssssssss !!! I agree !

[leszek]

Its the default icon theme I guess. Called breeze. You can try setting another icon theme in the gtk theme settings of systemsettings. Though that could make it looking inconsistent in other ways.

[kdemeoz]

Thanks, but no. I really dislike the Plasma5 Breeze theme (i read that lots of people apparently love it, but i think it completely sucks], & it's one of the first things i do in any Plasma5 distro [ie, change to something else]. My Tower's Maui's System Settings - Workspace Appearance is now devoid of all obviously active Breeze items [including the icons], yet nothing i have tried has improved Synaptic's UI. It's really unpleasant to use, for the reason i already mentioned. Pity. This is such an obvious visual ergonomic fault that i'm stunned the Plasma Devs released it like this, nor have subsequently fixed it.

[DrGeoffrey]

Duh. I was hoping there was a solution.

[leszek]

Have you tried changing the icon theme for gtk applications ? As synaptic is a gtk+3 app it needs this change.
Maybe it is also binded to the widget theme. So try changing that aswell for a test.

[kdemeoz]

Have you tried changing the icon theme for gtk applications ? As synaptic is a gtk+3 app it needs this change.
Maybe it is also binded to the widget theme. So try changing that aswell for a test.

Thanks, but as i wrote in my last reply; "My Tower's Maui's System Settings - Workspace Appearance is now devoid of all obviously active Breeze items [including the icons], yet nothing i have tried has improved Synaptic's UI.". That is, i have already changed EVERY mention of "Breeze" to something else. Specifically:

Look & Feel = Maui Plasma
Widget style = Oxygen
Window Decorations = Plastik
Desktop Theme = Oxygen
Icons = Oxygen
GTK GTK2 Theme = Crux, GTK3 Theme = Default [but also tried Emacs], Show icons in GTK buttons = Yes, Icon theme = Hicolor, Fallback theme = Oxygen.

None of this stopped Synaptic's icons looking bad. 

[leszek]

Ah I think I know the issue. As synaptic is executed as sudo it takes the settings from root.
So you need to overwrite the settings.ini for the gtk3 theme in the /root/.config/gtk-3 folder I suppose.
You need of course root rights (sudo) to see access and change anything.
Best is to copy the existing settings.ini from your user profile and replace the one in /root

[kdemeoz]

Oh leszek, thank you thank you!! How wonderful. This FIXED the problem!! 

With Emacs as my ROOT GTK - GTK3 Theme, my Synaptic now looks just like it did in Mint 17.x KDE4, ie, it is now once again pleasant to use. I'm so grateful for your help.

This pic is my "new" Synaptic, in Maui, not Mint [heehee] - now there's not an ugly microscopic nearly-invisible blue tick anywhere:
   

[starbuck]

I too think that Breeze should somehow fix those particular icons in their set, as its really on the brink of unusable with being almost monochrome.